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Updated 4.42pm
SPANISH KING JUAN Carlos will abdicate in favour of his son Prince Felipe, the nation announced this morning, ending a 39-year reign that ushered in democracy but was was later battered by royal scandals.
The 76-year-old monarch, crowned in November 1975 after the death of General Francisco Franco, is stepping down dogged by health woes and with his popularity deeply eroded by scandals swirling around him and his family.
“His Majesty King Juan Carlos has just informed me of his desire to renounce the throne and begin the process of succession,” Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said in an impromptu announcement to the media.
He hands over the throne to 46-year-old Felipe de Borbon, a 1.98-metre (six foot six inches) tall former Olympic yachtsman, who has been relatively unscathed by the scandals that battered the rest of the family.
Frequently smiling but more reserved than his father, Felipe had long suffered from comparisons with the easy-going Juan Carlos, who played a historic role in Spain’s post-dictatorship transition.
But Juan Carlos’s image took a blow after he took a luxury elephant-hunting safari to Botswana in April 2012 as his subjects struggled in a recession, with one in four people unemployed.
Further damaging the royal family’s standing, a judge opened a corruption investigation in 2010 centred on former Olympic handball player Inaki Urdangarin, the husband of his youngest daughter, Cristina, who has also been accused of involvement.
At the same time, Felipe’s approval rating has risen.
Felipe wed former television presenter Letizia Ortiz in a glittering ceremony in Madrid’s Almudena Cathedral in 2004 after several previous romantic dalliances, including one with a Norwegian lingerie model.
Ortiz, a 41-year-old divorcee, was the first commoner to come in line for the Spanish throne.
Commenting on the announcement today, Irish President Michael D Higgins paid tribute to King Juan Carlos who he said “succeeded in uniting the Spanish people behind the democratic principles underlying the country’s Constitution”. He wished Crown Prince Felipe every success in his new role.
- © AFP 2014 with additional reporting by Michelle Hennessy.
First published 10.09am
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They really need to pass these reductions on to all their customers..
Kev , I agree. Its galling for existing customers who are “captive”.That causes deep resentment .However looking at theterm of the loansaffected , you might wonder how many will benefit. Two year and ten year terms are the main beneficiaries.
PTSB are offering discounted to tracker mortgage holders while threatening eviction to those who have been hammered on the variable rate .
This is illegal discrimination as the purchase of the bank by the State brings the bank under the irish Constitution and discrimination is illegal !
Best of luck to those of you who get your 20 to 30% discount on your trackers – you are setting a precedent for all other mortgage holders !
The average rate of a mortgage in Europe is 2.3 % if my memory serves me correctly.
A good time to buy me thinks… :-p
Why does Kenny the Pr**k not legislate for home owners on variable rate interest on their mortgage. He talks about taxing the hilt out of us and the banks do the same. Can wait to give him my good riddance vote .
Kenny obeys his master.
Great news but no letup on the variable rates they charge long standing customers they have been screwing ever since the collapse caused by their crazy tracker mortgages
Was the collapse really caused by trackers?
PTSB are also involved in the Bed and Breakfast loans to Anglo !
It is quite worrying when a Senator starts a post on a discriminatory piece of business by a State owned institution with the words “Great News ” ……
Ecb lend bank money at -0.05% bank charges me 4.75% Apr are you senators and politicians a waste of my vote. Answer yes, you can bring in legislation this is an extortion interest rate given the banks cost for loans from
Ecb.
you need to think about what rate your lender borrows (“funds”) at and what collateral they need to provide. the reality is that funding costs have collapsed and the next shoe to drop will be mortgage costs. if the Irish banks don’t do it i will bet my bottom dollar new lenders will come into the market. having a central bank that makes people pay 20% deposit and 4% mortgage rates after prices have dropped 50% is a dream scenario/environment for a new lender. all they need now is clarity on the rules as to what happens if the person falls behind on their mortgage but they have a lot of cushion at the moment. i reckon mortgages will be 3.25% in Ireland within 12 months. buy a house.
So much for increasing customer loyalty. If your a current customer screw you….
Well take you’re mortgage elsewhere then.
PTSB reducing their interest rates???
Is this the same bank that was charging it’s existing customers approx. 7% during the bust that they and their brethren created?
Is this the same bank that scammed it’s customers out of their trackers?
No, that was a different PTSB.
“Great”
“Another new competitor in Irish banking”
Shocking to think that these banks are allowed con new customers in under these new rates but punish those that are long time customers. Those customers that were dragged into the housing trap during the last decade by both these “reckless” lenders.
The Govt are acting like a toothless tiger… Roaring about protecting people but not putting pressure on the banks to pass on the phenomenal low rates from the ECB.
Terry , you are right. The borrower should ask ” can I afford these repayments “. The lender should be stict in questioning ” can the borrower afford these repayments”. If the answer is “no” to the questions , then it is both reckless borrowing and reckless lending. The balance of responsibilty , in my opinion lies with the lender.
My idea of reckless lending was offering 100%+ mortgages… Getting people to throw their car loans into the mortgage pot etc… This was not only reckless but wholly unethical. How they get away with not passing on the low interest rates on borrowings while doing so with savings???
As I said this Govt are toothless and in all probability scared of upsetting the cosy banking cartels, by not forcing them to pass on the low rates. After all these organisations would have been blown out of the water if it wasn’t for the public purse that rescued them. Now as the banks return to profitability they continue to impose crippling interest rates on these people while at the same time we continue to suffer the effects of austerity brought about by these organisations…
Simply put now… bye bye Enda, Joan & Co… Ye are in the death throws of your p1ss poor Govt…
“dragged into the housing trap”?
Who dragged them into it? Nobody put a gun to anyone’s head and forced them into signing up for mortgages they couldn’t afford
Whilst I agree that the interest rate reductions should be passsed on to all customers if you think 4% is classed as crippling interest rates Terry then you haven’t been around for very long!
Ah I’ve been around long enough to know that house prices back then were far lower not in the multiples of the hundreds of thousands they are now… Oh and what happens when interest rates start to climb???
i will stick with my 0.8 tracker rate
I think you’re right. If it wasn’t for my tracker, I’d be homeless.
Or, you know, renting…
Really? Homeless?
The difference between a tracker and a variable with PTSB can be €400 a month for an average sized mortgage, so homeless is not an exaggeration.
I’d be selling my body on the streets… turning tricks for 5 euros…
What about customers like me who took out a mortgage in the boom, this should be given to all of its customers not just new we were the ones who over paid and are left in the dark.
If they remain within the T&C’s that you voluntarily signed up to then I don’t think you have grounds for complaint
Excellent news.
For Bondholders
Excellent for who ?
Mr smithers..
Lure in that Fresh Virgin Meat.
The Pigs are hungry.
Oink Oink Oink!!!
It’s good news for FTBers. They have to get a mortgage from some institution and there aren’t that many providers.
O only 4.2% that’s still shit !!
A useful reminder for people who think 4% is shite!
http://www.moneyguideireland.com/history-of-mortgage-rates-in-ireland.html
Reg my reasoning here is that when these low ECB rates start to rise so too will the existing 4% +. will the banks keep rates at 4% odd when the ECB starts to throw on a 1/2 % here or there??? Simple answer is NO… Then we’ll be heading for the high rates of the 70′s and 80′s… These banks will do all they can to screw you for as much as they can during good times and bad… Don’t forget these same banks along with FF sleep walked us into a disaster that we and the generations after us will be paying for years to come.
While at the same time these banks are paying huge bonuses even pay rises to its senior staff…
Wan*ers.
Bank of Ireland will pay your stamp duty too ! Wonder where this is all heading ,good job the central bank is keeping an eye on things.
New buyers get suckered in then they jack the rates up… The fact that the rate remains the same for current mortgages should be a warning to anyone considering ptsb or boi for a mortgage.. They have no loyalty
The cheek of them greedy shower of bully’s . Existing customers are garnishing the bonuses of them nits while they put families out on the street. I seen how #boi treat their loyal customers from the inside it would make your skin crawl. Lesson here for new customers thinking of going near bank of ireland is don’t. Should you experience difficulties (such is life) they will rape you even after the vultures have picked the corpse. For small steps, for big steps, for life. A life sentence is what you get with bankruptcy your only defence.
Lesson here is anyone who bought into their previous spin is paying for it now. These so called new customers will soon become existing customers and will also suffer the same faith.
You need 20% of the value of the house to get this!! I don’t know many people able to save that amount
The rich can afford it. So the folks who need it can not avail of it. So those with the least will be chastised with the higher rate. Happy bonuses for bank of ireland , Richie Boucher and the blood sucking bond holders
So permanent TSB have announced a cut in their Variable interest rate for bleedin’ new customers, after years of increasing rates for existing variable rate holders during a period of record low interest rates across Europe. go figure.
Another ploy to get new customers in an emerging competitive market. Once they have a certain amount of new customers on their loan books then watch the rates increase again and everyone is stuck with the higher rates.
It’s a no win situation when your borrowing from financial institutions – you will get caught every way.
“THE GREATEST EVIL PERPETRATED ON MAN, THE COMPOUND INTEREST RATE,”
Our banks are still owned by the same colonial slave merchant families”
There is NO DEBT !!! There is no shortage !!! It’s all imaginary, just like the game of Monopoly!
Today’s money is merely IOU’s and is backed by nothing;
https://giftoftruth.wordpress.com/
Zero poverty: poverty is man-made and can be undone;
Zero un-employment: there is enough for everyone;
Zero evictions: there are legal remedies to settle all debts;
Zero evictions: the land belongs to we, the people;
Zero foreclosures: Legal remedies exist which the courts refuse;
Zero School Education fees and Zero Tertiary Education fees;”
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